SILETZ NEWS
Delores Pigsley,
Tribal Chairman
Brenda Bremner,
General Manager
and Editor-in-Chief
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Vol. 46, No. 4
Presorted
First-Class
Mail
U.S. Postage
Paid - Permit
No. 178
Salem, OR
Siletz News
Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians
P.O. Box 549
Siletz, OR 97380-0549
April 2018
Land
Enhancement
and Restoration
Project
March 26, 2018
USDA Pond
Siletz, Oregon
Photos by Andy Taylor
Kathy Kentta, Healthy Traditions Project coordinator (far left), shows Sunny
Jimenez (above) and Lily Whitehead (right) how to separate the weeds from the
root tangle and clean the old dirt off for replanting. JR Butler, Youth Development
Program coordinator (far right), also helped out. This spring break activity showed
volunteers how to identify and remove invasive plants so our native plants can
grow healthier.
Tribe to participate in regional HIV prevention grant with counties, OHA
NEWPORT, Ore. – Since HIV was
first identified in 1984, the public health
and medical communities have made
great strides in advancing effective pre-
vention and treatment strategies. Despite
this, we continue to see new infections
every year, including a consistent upward
trend in newly identified HIV and other
sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in
our region.
The Oregon Health Authority is
launching new initiatives to end HIV
infections around the state and our region
is taking part. Linn, Benton and Lincoln
counties and the Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians are partnering on a five-year
grant to expand comprehensive HIV pre-
vention strategies throughout the region.
Through this grant, the regional part-
ners will hire harm reduction outreach
workers who will use a person-centered
approach to reach out to individuals in our
community who are at high risk for HIV
infection. They will offer rapid HIV test-
ing and prevention resources in the field,
educate individuals about HIV transmis-
sion and effective prevention methods,
and refer persons with diagnosed STIs
and HIV to treatment and other health
care services.
A key component of the project is
educating the community about HIV/
STIs and the importance of testing and
prevention. Across the state, six out of 10
Oregonians do not know their HIV status.
This is of particular concern because an
individual can become infected with HIV
and in turn infect others for years without
noticing symptoms.
In addition to providing testing
through the project’s harm reduction
workers, this project will help strengthen
partnerships between local public health
agencies and health care providers across
the region to improve comprehensive
HIV/STI education, testing and treatment
services.
The project will also work with
medical providers to expand the use of
new prevention measures. Pre-exposure
prophylaxis (PrEP) is an example of a
medication that can be prescribed by a
medical provider and is effective in pre-
venting HIV infection among those at
high risk. This medication coupled with
other strategies, such as using condoms
during sexual activity and not engaging
in needle sharing, are part of a compre-
hensive prevention strategy to reduce the
risk of HIV infection and get our region
closer to ending all HIV infections.
To find out more about the program,
contact our regional coordinator, Erin Par-
rish, at eparrish@co.lincoln.or.us.
For more information on Oregon’s
statewide initiative to end HIV infection,
visit endhivoregon.org.
Lincoln County Public Health, in col-
laboration with our community partners,
provides leadership to assure the condi-
tions for healthy communities.
Harm Reduction
Outreach workers will be in the community working
with individuals most at risk for HIV infection.
Testing. 6 out of 10 Oregonians do not know
their HIV status.
Regional HIV
Early
Intervention
& Outreach
Program
Linn, Benton, and
Lincoln Counties and the
Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians are
partnering to provide
testing, prevention,
education and outreach
services to individuals in
the region at risk for HIV
and other sexually
transmitted infections.
Prevention. There are effective prevention
methods like condoms, refraining from needle
sharing, and medication.
Referral to treatment. Those who test positive
for HIV will be referred to providers . to receive
Community Awareness
There are many preventative tools you can use to
protect yourself.
Use barrier methods like condoms when
engaging in sexual activity.
If you're at a high risk for HIV infection, there is
medication that can help reduce your risk. Pre-
Exposure Prophylaxis, PrEP, can be prescribed
by a medical provider.
Don't engage in needle sharing.
Provider Collaboration
We will work with healthcare providers to improve
availability of HIV and other STI testing.
We will educate providers to increase their
knowledge of emerging preventative methods.
We will help to connect at risk individuals to the
healthcare system.
For more information on Oregon's statewide initiative to end HIV infection, visit
www.endhivoregon.org.
